I actually DID pretty much what you are planning to do, ill make this as quick as i can, but i started with a Taurus PT1911 Duo tone. I began with swapping the 14 lb slidw spring for a 16 when i noticed excessive burring on the barrel loop mounting piece that slams against the frame rather than buying a shock buffer. From there i just went nuts.
I replaced all the bulky taurus stuff- put on a wilson combat slim profile slide stop, a one sided ed brown slim profile safety, a wilson combat lightweight skelotonized hammer, a wilson combat titanium firing pin and spring kit, as well as a new mainspring. I didnt replace the extractor, barrel or slide.
Aesthetically i swapped out grips for hogue aluminum powder coated black on black flame grips with a pierce grip rubber combat finger grooved insert that went UNDER the alumigrips so i could still have the combat grip effect and the cool aluminum grips. I even picked up one of those barrell bushing swap out compensators for it (that didnt last long) and a 10 rd extended mag.

The first pic is how i used to carry it. The second is with all the crap on it before i bought the pierce grip insert. I polished the slide and all that. So alltogeather... i paid 700 plus tax for the gun, grips- 65 +20 so 85 for both, the hammer was 30, safety was around 30 too i think, slide stop was 20, firing pin was (i want to say) 45 all the springs togeather were around 25 total (3 different spring kits)

Plus my time. And i also shot at least 100 rds through it after i replaces something but BEFORE i replaced something else. So whats all that? Around 900 total? Now...i didnt set out to do all that, i also honed and polished, de -burred, etc... all the internal stuff with my dremmel as well as took a frogs hair off the sear and polished it too (trigger job.) I actually just started making changes and got addicted to it somehow!
And two things happened 1) i learned a lot about 1911s, and 2) i wound up with a thousand dollar gun that was still only worth 500 bucks used.

Finally i got tired of monkeying with it n sold it. (For 500 bucks) and went back to revolvers.

I never liked the 2000.00Kimber thing which is why i went with a taurus in the first place, but i couldnt hit a damn thing with that taurus. I have since shot a buddies Colt Commander and it shot awesome. So it may have been THAT taurus, maybe not. But i have been looking at 1911s again recently and i was thinking of doing the same thing you are but on purpose this time, and i can tell you one thing for sure. That taurus disnt shoot ANY more accurate the day i bought it or the day i sold it. So if i were you, i wouldnt go TOO cheap to start. And befire i sunk one thin dime into it i would make sure it shoots fairly well to begin with.

Personally im looking for a springfield M1911A1 bare bones to start this time. I liked how the Colt shot but theyre too damn expensive. Ive seen used speingfields for 550-750 .
Just my two cents.

The other thing is this: most gun shops that have Kimbers and Sig Saur1911s and all that, have them new for like 1100-1800, BUT a new Kimber Custom II blued retails for like 800-850 on their website.

And a Custom II is a pretty loaded 1911. So you COULD just order a brand new Kimber for leas thaan a grand. (Thats just what i have been thinking for ME)

Actually after dinking around with 1911s so much, i also was thinking (this again is just for ME) about curbing the whole 1911 thing and checking out a CZ90 .45, theyre around 7-800 buxks too and ive always been curious about them. I hear good things.

Anyhoo, im rambling. Hope i helped a little. Good luck either way

This is some sound advise

06-03-2012, 05:04 PM

FNISHR

Ted, when you do this, you need to give us a full report plus pictures.:)